Birkenhead Radio Sailing & Power Club
Along with the New Year New Look to the lake, the website has had a bit of a makeover. The Classes menu item has now been moved to the Information section and the menu “Current Standings” has been renamed as Results. This menu now has past Open meeting Reports and Results added to it as a page of links, in the hope that it is easier to locate past information.
Peter Baldwin 20/1/20
After last weeks IOM racing all of the marks needed repositioning to get a decent course for this weeks racing with a decent A rig (RG65) and A+ rig breeze from the WNW. Racing started very soon after 12:00 with the four RG65’s sailing 10 metres further up the lake than the seven DF65’s (including four visitors from Gresford).
In the RG65 fleet of Pocket Rockets, Alan Watkinson used his tall A conventional rig to good effect and took wins in the first two races. Peter Baldwin then got into a groove and won the next 5, before a break for lunch and a hot drink. Suitably refreshed after lunch, Neil Westbrook took 2 wins from the next three races and Alan had a further win, before Peter took the final two races, with the wind by now easing a few knots as the sun went down.
Andrew Peter had a commanding day in the DF65 fleet, winning eleven out of the twelve races. Only John Carlin managed to keep him from the podium, before he had to retire with some winch troubles. David Bradley and Bob Andrews from Gresford both came close to beating Andrew in a number of races, with the result only being decided in the last few metres to the line.
An excellent day of 12 races with close racing in both fleets. Thanks once again to Jack and Bernie for running our racing and making drinks at lunchtime. Our visitors from Gresford enjoyed the “Birkenhead Experience” and have promised to return for the final event in this Winter series, which takes place on Saturday 15th February.
RG65’s
DF65’s
12 races sailed
Sailing this week was conducted from the North bank due to the SSW breeze giving little breeze close to the South shoreline. A course was set using existing marks and a new start line. Initially this gave something approaching a beat to the first mark , but as the day progressed the wind cane more often from the SW and increased in strength changing it into a fetch or even a reach. This increase in strength gave some tricky conditions for everyone that was in their A+ rigs, where it became essential to keep the boat moving and anticipate the gusts, lulls and change in direction. After 10 races, John won out again to finish ahead of Peter, as even though they both had 4 wins, John had the better consistency and was rarely placed out of the top 3. Richard Robinson took the other two wins and this helped him into a well deserved third place.
Thanks must once again go to Ernie for running this weeks racing. There is racing for the RG65 and DF65 fleets this Saturday (18th January) starting at 12:00. Everyone welcome.
There was an excellent turnout of 18 boats at this the third of the Winter IOM series at Birkenhead. Everyone was treated to a new view as they looked across the lake from the southern shoreline as shown in the photo above. The trees all along the Northern edge have been cut down over the last week and the factory units are clearly visible again. This brought back memories of the lakeside and the surrounding areas from years ago for some long standing members!
With a breeze from the South as we started, a course was set with two beats across the lake and a long reach back to one end of the start line. Although there was a good 6 to 8 knot breeze blowing whilst the course was being setup, this seemed to disappear during the early races with boats getting stuck in significant holes whilst boats behind caught up with them on a light breeze from a different direction. By the lunch break, the wind seemed to have moved to a more westerly direction and so marks were moved around so that races could be run in the opposite direction.
Racing was mostly very tight between the top four or five boats with places often only decided in the last few meters to the finish line. Occasionally, a boat would get a good breeze off the start line and have a commanding lead by the first mark and then keep or even extend this lead by the finish. By the end of the day, conditions had become very difficult at times with significant gusts causing boats to lose control if you were in the wrong place on the course when the gust hit. Everyone seemed happy to finish at race 10 with the conditions as they were.
Graham Elliott made the best of the conditions with his Britpop, taking the day by winning seven out of the ten races. Brad Gibson sailing his Red Wine was second with a consistent set of results including one first, that very rarely saw him out of second place. John Brierley in a Britpop rounded out the podium in third place and another win, with Peter Baldwin taking the other win in his Lintel MMX.
Thanks once again must go to Bernie and Jack for running the racing and Joyce for providing a hot cuppa at break time.
Ten races sailed. The next event in the IOM Winter series is on Saturday 25th January.
A new year, the start of a new series and a new look to Birkenhead’s lake, for the 10 DF65s today. Warm and overcast with light winds was the order of the day, with some very close racing, which was reflected in the final scores.
The battle at the pointy end of the fleet was one between John, Neil, Alan and Richard.
John and Neil tied on 16 points with John breaking the tie with 5 firsts to Neil’s 3. The third and fourth places were even closer with both Alan and Richard tied with one first each and requiring the number of seconds to split the tie in Alan’s favour. Dave Williams, after using his discards with servo damage, then put some solid races together to finish 5th. These One Design boats are certainly providing close racing!
With ALL the trees now removed from around the lake, the club starts a new season with enhanced sailing conditions.
10 races sailed.
Once again big thanks to Ernie for keeping us all in check.
Next Saturday is the third of the IOM winter series, start time 12:00. Wind looks to be from the Gautby Road End, so do come and see how the conditions have improved with the trees no longer there.
Members may be interested to know that work has started in removing trees on the North side of the lake, leading to a new outlook whilst sailing! This should further improve the flow of wind across the lake over a wider range of wind directions. With work still ongoing, here are some photos taken earlier today, Friday 3/1/20 by Club Captain Andrew Peter. There will be a totally new view for you when you are next at the lakeside.
Next racing dates are for DF65 on Wednesday 8th at 11:00 and for IOM the Winter Series No 3 on Saturday 11th at 12:00.
